Staggering rise in number of children identified as victims of modern slavery in the UK

Tuesday, 27th March 2018

ECPAT UK is calling on the UK Government to do more to protect child victims of modern slavery after the latest official statistics showed a huge 66% rise in the number of children identified as potential victims during 2017.

Data from the National Crime Agency (NCA) showed that 2,118 individuals - nearly half (41%) of all referrals into the National Referral Mechanism (NRM), the system for identifying victims of modern slavery, were individuals exploited as children.

Despite this, the NRM continues to provide no consistent, meaningful specialist support to young people, which is why in 2017 ECPAT UK launched a major campaign to reform the NRM for children and call on the Government to better protect vulnerable children.

There was also a sharp rise in the number of UK national children identified, comprising 32% of the total number of all child victims identified. This has partly resulted from a rise in referrals of children exploited by ‘county lines’ gangs, where children are exploited to transport drugs from major UK cities to sell in small towns and rural areas.

Other findings from the NCA show that labour exploitation (which includes but is not broken down into those exploited for criminal purposes) represented nearly a half of all children identified as potential trafficking victims. Those who were sexually exploited comprised around a quarter.

Moreover, the number of boys identified continues to be higher than girls. In 2017, 62% of children identified as trafficking victims were male and 38% were female.

ECPAT UK has consistently raised problems around the way that the NRM data is recorded and presented, as well as the support provided to child victims. Data is not broken down into important categories of exploitation type, and statistics on the decisions made about whether children are officially recognised as victims and given positive decisions about their trafficking status is not currently published. The way in which the data has been presented has been varied over many years since the NRM was begun, making it incredibly difficult to accurately assess the real picture.

Catherine Baker, ECPAT UK's Policy Officer, said: “These statistics show that awareness of trafficking, in particular of children is increasing. However, we know that the true figures are likely to be much higher. Behind each statistic is a child who has been abused yet we have no information about the outcomes of children referred into the NRM.

“The rising number of children identified points to an urgent need for a greater focus on children, yet the NRM in its current form continues to fail these children; neither properly identifying them nor providing them with any meaningful support. The NRM for children is not fit for purpose.

“This is why ECPAT UK is urging the public to help campaign for a reformed, more transparent system which enables frontline professionals to assess the needs of children and provide them with long-term, specialist support.”

Two leading UK charities, ECPAT UK and Missing People, have released a new report warning that trafficked and unaccompanied children are 30 times more likely to go missing than other children their age. Additionally, in 2017, trafficked and unaccompanied children went missing from care on average 7 times, highlighting grave safeguarding failures on the part of local authorities.

More than 30 child rights NGOs, including ECPAT UK, ECPAT International and eight ECPAT member groups have written to EU President Junckers expressing concern over the wording of the draft Regulation on Privacy and Electronic Communications (e-Privacy Regulation), currently under consideration in Brussels. The NGOs are concerned the new regulation could hamper efforts to track online child sex offenders and identify victims.

ECPAT UK is once again partnering with the Refugee Council to deliver training to over 1,000 foster carers and support workers in accommodation placements in England. The 'caring for separated and trafficked children' training programme will equip those with caring duties for unaccompanied and trafficked children with the knowledge and tools to effectively protect these vulnerable children.

On Wednesday, 17th October 2018, ECPAT UK will join partners from across Europe to participate in a ‘Day of Action’ for unaccompanied and separated children, as part of the cross-border Safeguarding Migrant Children Across Europe (AMINA) project.

Thousands of children put at risk of trafficking by the UK Government’s lack of plan to prevent it, says new report by the Anti-Trafficking Monitoring Group - a group of organisations including ECPAT UK.

Sexual exploitation and abuse in the aid sector has been an ‘open secret’ among humanitarian organisations, with individuals who report abuse continually ‘silenced and ostracised’, according to a new report by the International Development Committee which drew on evidence submitted by ECPAT UK.

Our latest research, Child trafficking in the UK 2018: A snapshot, exposes the limitations of the government’s response to child victims of trafficking and highlights the need for a new, child-centred approach.

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The National Referral Mechanism is a process set up by the Government to identify and support victims of trafficking in the UK. It was born out of the Government's obligation to identify victims under the Council of Europe Convention on Action against Human Trafficking, which came into force on 1 February 2008.

In 2018 we worked with Care2 to call on the Home Secretary, Sajid Javid MP, to overhaul the current system of identification and support for victims of trafficking – the National Referral Mechanism (NRM).

This year, an incredible 120,535 supporters called for specialist support for all trafficked children. However, the fight is not finished and with the Modern Slavery Act currently under review, it’s now or never to make sure your voice is heard. Will you take 5 minutes to contact your MP asking them to raise this issue with the Home Secretary?

The UK Government is failing to protect thousands of children from exploitation by lacking a plan to prevent child trafficking, according to a new report by the Anti-Trafficking Monitoring Group (ATMG), a coalition of twelve UK-based charities, including ECPAT UK. The report Before the Harm is Done, stresses that the UK has no specific strategy in relation to preventing trafficking in children, putting thousands of children at risk.

ECPAT UK offers a comprehensive training programme, in line with National Occupational Standards, delivering courses for more than 20 years to help improve responses to child trafficking, modern slavery and exploitation.

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Report immediate concerns about a child's welfare

If you have an immediate concern about a child's welfare, please contact your local council's social care department, who are available 24 hours a day. You can find their contact details on the Directgov website or in the phone book.

You can also contact the Modern Slavery Helpline on 0800 0121 700 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.

If your concern is urgent, please call the police in your area or 999.